Coming off an explosive performance at Maria Carrillo last week, Benicia High’s varsity football team looks to even its record when the Panthers host the Armijo Indians Friday nnight at Drolette Stadium.

Benicia (1-2), which lost its first two games of the season, trailed Maria Carrillo 21-3 before going on a 48-7 run to earn its first victory. Panthers head coach Craig Holden is hoping the late fireworks carry over against Armijo.

“It was satisfying if you throw out most of the first half,” Holden said of last week’s win. “Then things got better. We were playing good defense all night but kept turning the ball over. Once we started holding onto the ball, we were alright.

“We didn’t want to lose three games in a row two years in a row,” Holden said. “It’s always nice to get that first win under your belt and success breeds confidence.”

Armijo (1-1) hasn’t been capable of slowing down the Panthers in recent years. Benicia has won each of the past six meetings, including a 45-21 rout last year in Fairfield that saw the Panthers rush for 373 yards.

“They’re a big Division I school and they have some players,” Holden said of the Indians. “If we let them hang around, they can cause problems. We want to get off to a good start and pile on from there.”

The Indians (1-1) have been wildly inconsistent. Armijo blew out San Rafael in the season opener, getting to play under a running clock with the lead for the first time in school history. It was Armijo’s first shutout in a season opener since the Indians outlasted Stagg of Stockton, 6-0, in 1989 and their biggest shutout since a 40-0 win over Hiram Johnson in 2002.

But the Indians got pushed around last week against Alhambra and lost 57-12. Quarterback Thomas Weisz never found a comfort zone and the offensive and defensive lines suffered several breakdowns.

“We’ve seen some things on film that we think we can exploit,” Holden said.

Benicia has been inconsistent as well. The Panthers had four turnovers in the first half last week but finished with a season-high 315 yards rushing and 526 total yards. Alex Osterholt and Cavon Etter combined for 266 yards rushing and four touchdowns against the Pumas. Jasono Shelley caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and also returned a kickoff 87 yards for a TD.

“There’s definitely some firepower there,” Holden said of his offense. “We just need to limit our mistakes and continue to play good defense.”

The Indians do have some explosive players. Senior Jordan Allen returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown against San Rafael – the team’s longest punt return in 21 years. Senior running back Elisha Toney is the heart and soul of the offense, breaking off TD runs of 34 and 43 yards in the season opener and adding a 75-yard TD run last week.

Weisz struggled in the loss to Alhambra, completing 3-of-13 passes for just 48 yards.

The Panthers looked great in the final 24 minutes last week. Holden would like to see his team play well for 48 minutes.

“We haven’t put together a complete football game and that’s what we’re looking to do,” Holden said. “You need to go into league clicking on all cylinders. Hopefully we got clicking against Maria Carrillo and we can carry that through Armijo.”

The Panthers will be without senior starting lineman Mason Newton, who sprained his ankle last week against Maria Carrillo.

Despite having only one victory after three games, the Panthers can rest a little easier knowing the entire Solano County Athletic Conference is off to a slow start. Benicia, Fairfield and Vanden lead the conference with one win each while Vallejo, Bethel and defending co-champion American Canyon a combined 0-8.

“I don’t know who these teams are playing and it’s hard to tell how good a team is during the preseason,” Holden said. “You can’t take anybody lightly.”